


Last Night on Mustafar

by BarbaraFett



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Doing Good Feels Good, Gen, Light Angst, Mild Blood, Reminiscing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-08
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-09-30 21:25:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10172570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarbaraFett/pseuds/BarbaraFett
Summary: Immediately prior to the events of "Return of the Jedi," Darth Vader is summoned to the new Death Star from his castle on Mustafar. One-shot.





	

“What is thy bidding, my Master?”

Darth Vader knelt before the main holocomm unit at his residence on Mustafar. The holographic face of his Master, Lord Sidious, glared down at him.

“The construction of the new battle station is not progressing fast enough,” said Sidious. “Our presence aboard the station will be necessary to motivate our workers.”

“ _Our_ presence?” 

“Yes. I intend to oversee the final stages of the construction myself. You will arrive on the station before I do, and inform the commander that I am coming. I _will_ see this station completed on schedule.” _Or hold you responsible if it is not,_ was the unspoken implication.

“It will be done, my Master.”

“Leave as soon as you are ready, Lord Vader. I will see you soon.”

“Yes, my Master.”

“Farewell until then, my friend.” He ended the transmission.

Lord Vader stood, turned away, and began giving orders to the residence’s staff via commlink to ready his shuttle for him.

While he was preparing to leave, he found himself sensing something familiar, yet odd – a hint of the future, revealed through the Force. Of course, he would never be able to match his Master’s uncanny skill at foreseeing events, but precognition had been a part of his life for as long as he could remember, and now, it whispered to him again. He knew, somehow, that when he left Mustafar this time, it would be his last. He would never see this world again.

He moved as if in a dream, preoccupied with what this revelation might mean. As he made his way through the reception hallway to the landing pad, a fragment of a long-forgotten memory of an earlier time when he’d left home came, unbidden, to his mind.

_I had a dream I was a Jedi. I came back and freed all the slaves._

The memory grated on his nerves as the harsh sound of the respirator did on his ears. _No,_ he thought with finality, silencing the innocent voice. _The man who held such ideals has been dead for decades. He died just over there._ Vader gazed out at the lava-riverbank of which this castle had been purpose-built to give a perfect view. _And the Jedi could not even save themselves, let alone free the slaves._

And yet. That dead man had a son. The name had not died with him. Nor had the Jedi way, despite the best efforts of Vader, his Master, and their various agents and operatives.

This castle had been built not only as a monument to Vader’s personal history and sense of style, but also as a monument to the final, long-awaited triumph of the Sith. As a matter of course, it was a household staffed largely by slaves, and had a built-in slave tracker system. This was a symbol and a means of power and control – both of which were as much a part of the Sith way of life as their black clothing and red lightsabers. However, the tracker system was one of the many things that Vader tried not to think about if he could avoid it.

Under the present circumstances, though, it gave him pause. Even from a purely logistical standpoint, if the whispers of destiny were true and he was never to return to this castle… why continue to hold slaves here?

Simply disabling or destroying the system wasn’t an option; that would inevitably attract the attention of the Royal Guard and, ultimately, his Master. _Wait - what is wrong with me?_ he screamed silently in anguish. _Why am I even thinking about freeing slaves? Dark Side preserve me, am I losing myself again?_

The Dark Side whispered back with an _awful_ idea, one that would solve his present dilemma while re-grounding him in its shadows. He smiled a pained, evil smile, then summoned his longtime butler, Vanée, via commlink. Vader waited for him in the hallway, alone.

“Yes, my lord?” the butler said, appearing through the doors that led deeper into the castle.

Vader approached him. “Hold still,” he said.

The red lightsaber blazed to life in his hand. When Vanée inevitably flinched away from it, Vader reinforced his order with a subtle manipulation of the Force. He took a moment to appreciate the servant’s terror, both written on his face and searing into the Force; clearly, he believed he was about to be decapitated. Vader allowed him to go on believing this for a moment more, then delivered a surgically-precise strike to his upper arm instead. His screams of pain reverberated through the reception hallway as he clasped at the burning wound. The Dark Side fed on his pain and terror, and, in turn, the dark apprentice fed on it. It was as intoxicating as always. It re-focused his mind on the reality that he had always been destined to wield this blade and bear a Sith name and title. Yes… this was who he was now.

Vanée stared at the cauterized chunk of flesh that had fallen to the polished floor. A tiny glint of metal could be seen in the center of it. “Is… is that…?” the butler managed to gasp out.

“Yes,” said Vader. “You’re free.”

“Free...” He looked at Vader in disbelief, still terrified. Vader deactivated the lightsaber and returned it to his belt.

“I will send a shuttle from the _Executor_ to take you to civilization,” Vader continued. “You may direct it to take you wherever you wish.”

“I… Thank you, my lord.”

“Farewell.” Vader turned away and continued toward the landing pad.

As he boarded the shuttle that would take him away from this place, Vader reflected on what he had just done. Despite himself, despite _everything_ , freeing a slave had felt _good_ … but then again, so had inflicting pain and fear. And since he was in no position to do any more of the former, he would have to be content with the latter.

The second-most-important sentient in the galaxy naturally had most mundane chores done for him, but he’d always insisted upon doing his own piloting; he was good at it and enjoyed it. Before taking off into space, he flew the Imperial shuttle low and slow over the lava river, getting one last good look at it. This was where his fate had been sealed, where his Master had rescued him from the brink of death, where his new life had truly begun.

He would have sighed if he could have. This suit was hardly the most state-of-the-art cybernetic life-support system in the galaxy, but it was, he thought, the most effective device for controlling slaves that had ever been invented. It had been created under Sidious’ direction, and was just one more of the chains that bound the apprentice to his Master. It was too late for Vader to escape from them.

He pulled back on the controls, left the atmosphere, and began entering the coordinates for the new Death Star’s secret construction site at the forest moon of Endor.

**Author's Note:**

> There is still good in him. :-)
> 
> This is canon-compliant (pretty much), which means it's not in continuity with my main ongoing series. In my main series, I kept Vader's castle on Vjun, where it was in the old EU (because I wrote that part before Rogue One had come out, and I like it that way and am keeping it that way). However, I really loved the idea of it being on Mustafar, too, and I felt inspired to write something based on that idea.


End file.
